Men’s Health Is 24-7

Men’s health doesn’t usually fall apart in one dramatic moment. It slips through the cracks with skipped checkups, “I’m fine” energy, fast food convenience, and weeks where we never move our bodies on purpose. We open with a real question: is all the talk around men’s mental health and men’s health awareness actually true concern, or is it just trending online? 

Then we bring it home to fatherhood. We get into what changes when you become a dad, how it flips your mindset from selfish plans to a clear mission, and why your child watching you is one of the strongest forces for personal growth. We talk legacy too: the difference between being a male and being a man, why accountability matters, and how breaking generational cycles can mean building financial stability, better habits, and a higher standard for the generations coming next. 

From there, we get practical with men’s wellness. We push regular health visits and screenings, because looking fit is not the same as being healthy on the inside. We talk nutrition in the real world, how the modern US food system makes it easy to eat garbage, and why simple upgrades like whole foods, farmers markets, and even gardening can be game changers. We also highlight daily walking, light cardio, and phone boundaries, plus prayer, meditation, or mindfulness to start the day with your mind in the right place. We close with goal check-ins, weekly adjustments, and what it takes to make an accountability partner actually work. 

If you got value from this conversation, subscribe, share it with a man you care about, and leave a review so more fathers and sons can find it. What’s one habit you’re committing to this week?

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Transcript

Welcome And June Check-In

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to another episode of Pops and Son Conversations. It is your favorite Sil Fox, Rob Malloy.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

And it is Javen, aka Check Three Times, checking in.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

And it is your favorite father and son duo. We are finishing up the month of June. Jay, how you feeling, first of all? I'm feeling good.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

I'm feeling good. How you feeling?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

I feel good. You know, we we just finished up um mental health awareness in the month of May. And uh ironically enough, it goes right into men's health. So what kind of messaging are we having worldwide about the men in this world? I mean, we're drawing a lot of attention. Um, but is it trending or is it true concern, Javen?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

That's a good question. I would lean on the side of trending. Hey, man, I'm just keeping it real.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Oh my God. Hey, I can't even be mad at that because when you when you look around, you know, um, I mean, all these mint mental health advocates have came out the blue. I mean, I don't I don't know about the certifications. I don't know about the licensing. I don't know about the degrees to be a mental health advocate. I mean, I I think uh if you uh if you say you're a mental health advocate, then you're a mental health advocate, right? Isn't that the way?

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Just put it in the bio. Put it in the bio. Everything's good. Don't worry about it. Forget about it. Forget about it. Forget about it.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

All right, look, so we're gonna finish strong for this month.

Trending Vs True Concern

SPEAKER_00 2:04

We we do have a lot to talk about in a short amount of time. So we'll we'll get down to business for you guys. So we have been discussing uh, you know, just different aspects of being a father from our POVs. You know, I'm a uh 50-year-old man, I'll be 50, man, for a couple more months. Uh feels real interesting, man. I felt like I've been stuck at 50 for about two years now, but I guess uh 51 will be here soon. So from my perspective, 50-year-old man who is uh, you know, four amazing children, three awesome uh grandsons, um, you know, it definitely puts things in perspective when I look at the growth, my personal growth, from uh, you know, just being a young kid, liking to ride bikes and you know, play Nintendo and Sega and play basketball and uh you know, football, badminton, you know, all of that stuff. You know, running away. Yeah, yeah, mommy. Life was so uh simple back then. And so now uh, you know, being a father at some point, you know, I was a husband uh and and

What Fatherhood Changes In You

SPEAKER_00 3:19

uh a step pops, you know, it's a lot of responsibility, but it definitely, you know, it's not something that you could pick up and put down, Jay. You know, once you become a father, uh it takes you to another level of being a man um because of your responsibility, of course, but really because of the amazing opportunity to be a dad, because not everybody um gets an opportunity to be a father, you know, um whether it be biologically only or whether it be by you know um inheriting or being blessed for somebody to um adopt you as that father. So um so I want to talk a little bit about you know just kind of the growth and what it means, uh and and you know, just the entire learning of uh being a father. So what was your experience, you know, when you became a father, and what what clicked to where you know life wasn't gonna be the same for you?

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Yeah, man, I still remember that. That is crazy. So uh the thing about me, which is so funny, and it's probably different. Um, you know, uh I kind of was always excited to be a father. Um it was something I look forward to. Um my my best my best friend, my homie, uh Willie, he was the first in the group um to have a kid. He had a little girl. And um, you know, I just watch just was watching him, you know what I'm saying? Watching how he stepped into the role. And no, it was just something that we always talked about in my crew, like it sounds weird, but that's just something we thought about like, man, who who gonna be next? Who gonna, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 5:15

So Bouquet, like catching the bouquet almost.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yeah, I mean,

From Excitement To New Mission

SPEAKER_01 5:19

to be honest, yeah. So um I'm trying to think if it I might I might have been like up next that everybody predicted, but uh nevertheless, um, you know, how old, how old? I was like 20, like 27 or something like that. Hold on, let me count back. I had to be, I had to be younger than that. No, it might have been 26. So um anyway, so yeah, I was yeah, I was like, I was like mad excited. I was mad excited because um, you know, to me, I always envision um, you know, fatherhood as just being that that great model, um, you know, somebody to impart the wisdom and just kind of help a little person grow into being the best person they could be. Um so how it uh encouraged me to grow, uh, I would say I did, I did get a lot more mature. I probably got a lot more mature. Um actually I I know I did. But at the same time, I wasn't, I was, I was already kind of at that level to where I knew I wanted to step in that role anyway. You know what I mean? Like, so when you in your late 20s, I had I had really got on my mind, like partying and turning up, all that stuff. But I had gotten all that stuff out of the way. So I wasn't really like heavy going out, going, you know, to the club and stuff like that. Like I was already kind of ready just to to chill. So um, you know, I found out it was cool. So, you know, when my son got here, it was just like, man, um I knew I had to to get up and go get some money. Like I knew I had to hustle. That was really like my main thing. So like I wouldn't say that it was like totally unplanned, but I wasn't as we weren't as prepared as as we probably should have been. So, you know, I I knew I had to go up and really go out and get it. Um, so I don't know if that, you know, made me more mature, but I just knew I had a new mission. Like before, um, you know, my direction was was was different. It was a little bit more selfish. You know, I kind of had stuff mapped out to where I was doing what I wanted to do. Um, so when he came around, uh, I became a lot more selfless. Yeah. Um and uh just the whole perspective, my whole perspective on life changed. And um, so today I would say I'm continuing to still, you know, I'm still growing. Um I'm still growing, man. He teaches me stuff every day. I learn stuff about myself, you know what I mean? And then, you know, what's funny is that I think about how, because you know, your your kids are going to take after you, they're gonna be watching you and stuff like that. So I become more uh aware of, you know, how I'm speaking. I become more aware of even just my you know my worldview, just how I how I talk to people, how I interact, like it all is is causing me to to think twice, you know, because I know that he's looking, I know he's watching.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

And I don't want him to pick up any any bad habits, you know what I'm saying, going about life because um, you know, like I said, he he's he's getting I'm really his source, uh so to speak. And I and I say that to him, but I do want more kids, too. I just I just want to put that out there. Like I know, I know that I just feel like even like the more kids you have, you just grow even more. Like I don't I don't know how I know this, but I just feel like each one would teach you just like different things about yourself and like for sure. You know what I'm saying? So uh yeah, it never ends, but yeah, yeah, I'm still growing. I'm still growing.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

You you know that's really interesting that you say that, uh, especially about you know uh when kids come into your life. You have to understand also that as the kids come into your life, you're you're in a new uh chapter, you know. Whether the child is is uh three years old, six years old, twelve, and then the next one comes along, you're you know, you're in a new chapter of your life. So it uh it opens up so many new things to explore about you or explore about you know family, and uh, you know, it really motivates you and inspires you to be the best version of yourself because that's what you want your family to experience. And I think that's a a pretty amazing feeling. And I would definitely say that uh you know, fatherhood has matured me, even being super young, um, even knowing that I still have to set the example uh for you and your sisters, you know, by by the way that I that I move, the way I behave, uh, the company that I keep, the way I handle business, you know, um, I remember those type of things being really important because it it separates the males from uh or separates the men from the males. Right. Like you really know that this is a responsible man. He takes pride in in being able to handle his business, being a protector, provider, being a leader in his community, um, just kind of being accountable and responsible as well. Uh, because you know, there's a lot of bums out there. Oh man. Um, there's a whole bunch of bums. And and I don't mean folks that don't have a house and have dirty clothes and uh asking for money. There's some people that have no ambition, uh, no motivation. Um, and they're still out here making kids, right? They're still out here, you know, impregnating women, you know, finessing women with you know no intent in raising a family, no intent of uh establishing a legacy and and breaking generational curses. Uh, you know, they're doing it just you know, just because for the sport of it. So uh, you know, obviously the goal is to be the best version of yourself, but also to take things to the next level. Right? Take take your take the family, take the generations to come to the next level. If if your dad, your granddad, you know, uh wasn't able to establish a financial legacy to where there's options and there's there's resources and tools for the generations to come, you be that. Yeah, right? You be that, and I'm not saying you be that alone, but you be the innovation. You know, you be you be the spark. You know, you be the one to even allow it to be conversation and and uh and help with the execution of it, because still at the end of the day, we can't do anything by ourselves, right? Right? So it's still gonna take a family effort, it's gonna take uh it's gonna take a tribe, it's gonna take a community, but you have to be

Leadership And Breaking Generational Cycles

SPEAKER_00 12:52

bold, you have to be strong enough. Sometimes you gotta be fed up with with with the the mediocre or below average lifestyle, the the monotony of just going to work and and you know uh living paycheck to paycheck. I mean, our generations to come deserves a better shot in being successful in carrying on that legacy. And I I feel like uh as a father, that's that's a part of our leadership. That's it's uh potentially a part of our our uh lineage. Like we we're not gonna put it on the mom. Like, who who puts it on the mom? Mom, why are we millionaires? No, ask your father, right?

unknown 13:39

Go ask.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

That's what she's gonna say. Ask your daddy while we not. You know, even though we have uh you know amazing women in our lives and we come across amazing women, you know, men, uh God, I feel like God has created men to be uh the visionaries, to to be those with the vision, uh, to be those with the dream, these dreams, and you know, the women that were created to to help uh you know manifest that and help with the execution. So when you think about it, if if you don't have both, then it's gonna be a little bit more challenging, you know, trying to to fly this this uh 757 with no co-pilot. Word to word. So uh so that's that's what that is. So look, uh as we finish up in the month of June, uh, I I do want to make sure that we talk about men's health, Jay. I think that we have to talk about the importance of just staying alive. Yes. When we see these people, uh these fathers, these men that uh are no longer with us, a lot of times this is not through uh an accident. It's it's not through because they just lived this long life. A lot of times it's health-related issues.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Yeah, and could be prevented.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

That could be prevented. So, Jay, just I mean, think about maybe two uh three, four or five bullets uh points that you know you feel like we can start doing better. And I'll start it off and then you can kind of finish it. And and some of the stuff you may feel, I'm talking to the audience, you may feel like is is uh monotonous or or mundane, but uh we have to continue to uh get regular health visits and screenings. Yeah, you know, there's no substitute, nah, uh I'm I'm uh at my uh uh perfect weight, I'm at my fighting weight, and uh I can do a hundred push-ups and stuff like that. Man, what's going on internally, brother? You know what I mean? What is that body doing? Because you have to think about in the world that we live in, and I hate to see so many uh commercials and and advertisement about the food here in the US. It's garbage.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Trash, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Like I just saw something, Jay, about uh uh the the lettuce is now uh being uh genetically modified. Lettuce. So salads now.

Men’s Health Means Staying Alive

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Dang, that's the go-to diet. Uh what you go to for your diets, man.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Is it's go-to, man. So, you know, when we start thinking about you know fresh veggies and fruits and stuff, man, we gotta get back to gardening, bro.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Uh not only gardening, if not, then you know, farmers market uh needs to be the go-to.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Yeah, that's the main thing, the diet, like what we eat, that's such a big part of our health. And I'm just now getting, you know, really getting into it because um I was looking at some old 2020 pictures pops, and I was like, I was like, dang, what where's

Screenings And Fixing The Diet

SPEAKER_01 17:18

that guy? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's like I start thinking about my eating habits, and to be honest, they haven't been the best. They haven't been the best. Um, so I started to um, you know, switch up my eating, my eating habits. I'm starting to do some more, some more cardio. Because, you know, as you get a little older, man, it's not as easy as it as it once was. Like the way it comes and it don't go, you know what I'm saying? And it's sticking to you. But it's just super important overall for your for your for your heart, you know, for your arteries, for all that stuff to just, and it's it doesn't even have to be like something extensive. You just do like 30 minutes, man, go jog.

unknown 18:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

But I think we get caught up and we think that we're so busy doing this and that, that we don't never try to do anything physical. Not even walking, not even walking around. It's crazy how how uh how great of a benefit it is just doing that a few times a week. Just walking. Oh, for sure. So we so we neglect that, and it's a big part of you know why we get in these, you know, these different diseases, which are heart and all this different stuff.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Um, so I would say that's that's one thing. Just get some, get a little exercise in it and try and try at least to switch your diet up. Um, you know, eat a little bit healthier.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah, yeah, that's uh that's so powerful. Uh, like you mentioned, uh, I I saw an advertisement today, and it was just talking about, you know, how you eat every single day, right? So you should be able to exercise every single day. What why would we take a day off from walking or exercising while we're still eating?

unknown 19:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

That's gonna that's gonna help with the digestion, the breakdown of your food, uh, like you mentioned, uh heart healthy, and uh, and really, man, just mentally, that that really does something when your endorphins are going. You know, you feel more accomplished, uh, you feel strong, and then it's also a break from whatever's going on. Oh people bothering you, work-related,

Cardio And The Power Of Walking

SPEAKER_00 19:30

business related, personal uh stuff, like just literally taking a break. And I'll say again, you know, one of the healthy habits that the the baby boomer, you know, your granddad, my dad, they they took that stuff serious. You know, any any neighborhood, when you think about any neighborhood that you grow up in, there was always some old folks walking. Couples, couples, Jay. Yeah, couples. You would you would see Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, one of them would have a long stick, and I used to wonder why they're carrying that stick for them dogs, man. For them dogs and the animals, man. That's why they was carrying them sticks. Like you, you know, if your dog loses, if it's spiky, loose, yo, you might catch one, man. You might catch one, hopefully not in the Tucas.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

But you know, they had healthy habits, and and I just remember uh you know, growing up in the late 70s and the 80s, how uh, you know, we we would see you know the older couples walking, uh and it would be early, five in the morning, six o'clock, you know, before we head out to school and stuff like that. And you know, they'd get it in, and that's how they would start their day. Yeah. You know, I don't know if they would go to bed afterwards, or whatever the case is, but that's how they would start their day. And and who knows when when you're walking, and uh Jay, we we walk, we got to get back to walking every single day.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

For sure. But when we did it, man, it was great conversation. Your mind was clear, uh, you you had different thoughts rolling through your head, and it was just a freeing state of mind opportunity. So uh, you know, I definitely want to encourage everybody to get your butts back outside um walking. Uh and as we also talked about, you know, work on your diet. Um, Jay, I I would also add um prayer and meditation. I still I still think that's very underrated. And I want to challenge everybody when when um when when you think about this, a lot of times we get up, what's the first thing we do? We check our phones.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Check your phone, yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_00 21:53

You check your phone line talking about to see what time it is. You looking for messages, uh, you looking for messenger, uh You know, you notification. Hopefully you had some some picks coming in throughout the night. You know what I mean? But uh and so God forbid you you hit uh Facebook running first thing in the morning. It's gonna throw your whole day off.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Guaranteed. So uh take some time to thank your creator, to to reconnect with your creator, and really just kind of prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for your day to come.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

You know what? You 100% right, Pops. I think that oh man, we just get so caught up, yo. But that phone is a big culprit. And it isn't it's so crazy because it only takes a quick, what, five minutes. Just don't leave your phone alone for five minutes, handle your business, and then you can hey you can go doom scroll your life away. But take some time to, like you said, speak with your creator, you know, however you do it, prayer, your meditation, your mindfulness, whatever it is, uh get that in because if you don't, it's a whole week go by and you you ain't did nothing. You know, you made no connection or source. Nice, yeah, two, three weeks go by. You know what I mean? So it's it's so easy to let it pass you by like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

So five minutes. Yeah, you're wondering why your your your bank account's low. You're

Prayer Meditation And Phone Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 23:33

wondering why you're not, you know, having the right energy with people, uh, or people with low energy is bothering you. You know, Jay, one of the things that I started doing some time ago was um I would leave my phone or my phones, my work phone and business phone, I would leave it in another room before I go to bed. That's good. I'd even leave it downstairs, you know what I mean? I'd leave it, you know, anywhere. You know, I'll wake up and I'll find it. Right. So uh I would I would do that deliberately just to number one to make sure that I go to bed when it's time to go to bed, right? You don't need to be scrolling on social. There's nothing that they can't wait.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Oh my goodness. Ain't it sometimes it's hard to put that phone down, boy? You end up doing you done watch 10 videos on TikTok or Instagram and you acting like you looking for that one golden video, but they're all the same. There's nothing you're gonna see. Just put that on. It's gonna be there. Yeah, it's gonna be there.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Look, man, uh, I guess uh, you know, the final thing uh that I would say is to make sure that you you reestablish uh or you you know take account of where you're at with your goals. I think that we you know often start thinking about okay, uh is it new year or your birthday, you start evaluating your life then. Yeah, we have to do that on a regular basis. You know, look at where you are with your goals, whether it's financially, spiritually, physically, and then make those adjustments. If you're not getting the business sales, or if you're not, you know, seeing what you want to see physically in your life, you have to make those adjustments because we all know what the definition of insanity is. So you know, doing the same thing over and over.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah, expecting a different result.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Yeah, expecting a different result. So I think that we know we're at the point to where we don't have to do things um uh as a as a fad or as a trend or uh you know uh a reset when we feel like we're not getting the results that we want or we're about to give up. And now we negotiate with God. If you if you just find a way to help me pay, you know, this this uh insurance this month, I promise you. You know what I mean? You start going through the negotiations, man. But please uh I I think if we start putting those goals out there, I think weekly goals are important, you know, and you uh you celebrate those, you know, those wins um and incentivize yourself. Uh so if we can kind of get back to that, um I I think that um that that'd be great. And the last thing as we end this thing up is uh accountability partners. How do you feel about that, Jay? How important is an accountability partner?

SPEAKER_01 26:35

I think it's important. I would like to um, you know, it always sounds good in theory, but I personally have never, like I've always said, oh yeah, you know, you can

Goals Weekly Checkpoints And Accountability

SPEAKER_01 26:48

be my accountability partner, but I've never seen it work like in real time, or at least not maybe not followed through all the way 100%.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Like I feel like if you're gonna say, okay, we let's do the accountability partner thing, like y'all really gotta be accountable for us being accountability partners and like let's really do this. You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

So I think in theory it definitely, it definitely could work, but if you're gonna do it, like you need to pick you a partner that's really gonna hold you accountable.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah. Or or uh or a group, you know, and uh so that's kind of how the uh the EG League had came about, man. It's about being responsible, accountable, you know, elevation, mentorship, and things like that. So you guys are actually gonna have to stay tuned. And we'll talk a little bit more about the EG League uh going into the next month um in July. But for now, hey, look, um men's health month, men's health uh awareness is 24-7. Let's be real. We we we got so much to be thankful for at the same time. We still have a lot of work that needs to be done. So, ladies, I want to personally thank you, the wives out there, the sisters, the moms, the aunties, the nieces, the cousins in them, co-workers, business partners, companions. We appreciate y'all and your support of uh men's mental health, men's physical health, men's emotional health, men's spiritual health, men's physical and financial. So I want to give a big shout out uh to the lady counterparts out here, man, that's been standing right beside their men.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

Shout out to y'all. Hey, don't start what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Don't stop what you're doing. So uh as uh as I say, man, behind every man is dark. But beside every great man is an amazing woman uh standing right next to him. So um we are signing off pops and sun conversations. As always, your favorite father and son duo. It is your favorite silver fox from Lloyd.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Check three times, check in.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

We gone. Thank you.